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Sprites

In the anime

Drayden made his first unofficial appearance in a flashback of Iris in BW036: Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster!. He congratulated Iris for her victory and gladly accepted a challenge from her. (Iris having said: "The next battle's our 100th win and it would be awesome to win against a Dragon Master at the same time.")

However, he appeared to be a very formidable opponent winning in just one move. Drayden and The Elder exchanged a knowing look, implying he was the one who asked The Elder to give Axew to Iris when she starts her journey.

In the anime

Druddigon battled against Iris' Dragonite in BW103 as Drayden's final Pokemon. He overpowered ThunderPunch with Dragon Claw, and blocked Flamethrower with Flash Cannon. When Dragonite attempted to use anothe ThunderPunch he perplexed Dragonite with Double Team. Ice Beam was a direct hit, but Druddigon surprisingly took virtually no damage. When Dragonite launched a Dragon Rush, Druddigon caught him by the trhoat and ended the match with Dragon Tail.

Trivia

Drayden is Iris' mentor and he plans to let her run the Gym when he retires (in White).

His name slightly resembles the word dragon.

He offers to teach Draco Meteor to the player after the Elite Four have been defeated the first time in White.

Drayden and Iris use the same teams but have differences in gender and the ability of their Druddigon. Drayden has an all-male team with a Rough Skin Druddigon, while Iris has an all-female team with a Sheer Force Druddigon.

In Pokemon Black and White, Iris and Drayden's Haxorus was underleveled as Fraxure does not evolve until Level 48. This was changed in Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, with Drayden's Haxorus matching the exact level it needs to evolve from a Fraxure.

He does not battle Ash as the eighth and final Gym Leader of Unova in the anime, as his gym is closed.

He is the oldest final Gym Leader yet being older than Kanto's Giovanni and Blue, Johto's Clair, Hoenn's Juan and Sinnoh's Volkner.

Before it was revealed that Drayden was Iris' mentor, some fans believed that he was her father.